Seven out of 10 firms fail Hiscox’s cybersecurity readiness test

Insurance company Hiscox has released its new Cyber Readiness Report, revealing that 73% of firms are not considered to be adequately cybersecurity ready.

Hiscox surveyed key professionals at 4,100 small to large companies across the US, UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands in the aim of gauging how prepared businesses are in the face of a cyberthreats.

See also:

• Apple, Cisco, Allianz, Aon now offering cybersecurity insurance

• The average cost of ransomware attacks is $133,000, Sophos says

• Cisco: 53% of companies surveyed lost $500,000 from cyberattacks last year

The results revealed that whilst the majority of firms lack the appropriate defences to deal with cyberthreats, cybercrime is considered to be a key threat, with 69% ranking it as a top risk to their business, whilst 45% revealed that they suffered from at least one cyber attack through 2017.

“As threats become more advanced and sophisticated, cyber readiness is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’ for businesses of all sizes,” said Dan Burke, Vice President and Cyber Product Head for Hiscox in the US.

Across the 1,000 US businesses surveyed, the average cost of cyber-attacks stood at $1mn last year. Yet despite this and the frequency of attacks, only 21% of companies with less than 250 employees currently have cyber insurance, with a further 52% of these stating that they have no intention of securing insurance.

“There needs to be a dedicated investment, and not just a financial one, in order prevent, detect and mitigate cyber-attacks,” Burke continues. “Beyond the allocation of funds, an organization must focus on its people, its thinking and its processes, in order to become a cyber expert.”

Hiscox's survey differs from Cisco's and Sophos' own reports in terms of the statistics and numbers. However, the trends throughout all three reports remain the same - that businesses are not doing enough to protect against cyber threats and attacks will continue to financially impair businesses throughout 2018.